Affable audience interaction combines with elements of multimedia to create a compelling concept still in need of refinement

Allan Radcliffe

August 14 2017, 12:01am, The Times

Daniel Bye plays Jenga with a volunteer from the audience who he interrogatesAlex Brenner

★★☆☆☆

The writer and performer Daniel Bye has a track record of performance lectures that wear their hefty subjects and the depth of his research admirably lightly. He is best known for Going Viral, his award-winning exploration of viruses (in every sense of the word), and his multi-layered piece The Price of Everything.

Bye’s performance style, which combines affable audience interaction with elements of multimedia, has always been something of a juggling act. His new piece, which deals with border crossings, in all their menace and absurdity, feels stylistically overstuffed, befuddling his message. This is a shame as the recurring conceit — in which Bye invites an audience member to play Jenga with him while he interrogates them about aspects of their personality and how they…